March 2024 – The North American Thebaid

Image Inspection is underway

Dear Friends and Supporters, Fellow Pilgrims All,

Good Strength to you as we pass the midpoint of the First Week of Great Lent!

Last year’s cover of the First Proof copy of the Thebaid Book.

I am very happy to report that I have received the Final Proof Copy of the Thebaid Book from St Tikhon’s Press, and have eagerly begun working through it.

As I removed the book from the padded shipping envelope, I discovered it was further wrapped in two layers of heavy Kraft paper, and secured with wrapping tape to protect it. After carefully cutting open one end of the package, I admit to somewhat shredding the wrapping paper to more quickly remove the book and immediately begin looking through it.

Like the first proof copy from thirteen long months ago, the pages are unbound and loose; this is truly a proof copy. (I was told last year with the first proof copy that due to the large size of the book, the “perfect bound” paperback glued binding would not be able to hold it together effectively, and no other binding would be cost effective for our purposes.) Being spread out on my work table, it doesn’t slow me down in reviewing it, but it is a minor inconvenience when it comes to flipping back and forth, or turning numerous pages at a time. Therefore, I do plan on taking it to a print shop to use a commercial three-hole punch to enable me to set it in a binder, which will help keep it together and in order, as well as protect it and make it easier when moving it around or transporting it.

My initial impressions on the image reproduction are strongly positive. There are several key images early on in the book which truly wowed me by their visual impact, which I found both surprising and reassuring. At this stage of prepping the book to go to press, I am so familiar with the photographs and their sequence that I did not expect to have such a reaction. So for the printed proof to come across so strongly during my first review was most rewarding, and provoked a range of emotions, from relief (honestly, as we hadn’t done any test proofs since last June!), to a guarded confidence (as I’m only about twenty percent into the book as of yet), to the glimmer of a sense of deep joy at the potential for the book to truly fulfill my hopes for it.

Any negatives to report? Nothing major yet, only a couple of minor edits required so far. One image is a little on the light side, and needs to have the tones deepened just a touch to restore color saturation and the sense of “richness” of the original. In another the subject’s face needs to be brightened a bit, so a localized “dodge” is the solution. (I am literally thinking in and using darkroom terms, both traditional and digital, to describe these!) So I’ve placed the first two of hopefully not too many post-it notes to flag them. I will be very pleased if no more than ten percent of the more than 200 images require any further edits, and so far, we are well below that percentage.

So, that’s it for now. I hope to march through the book (pardon the pun) over the next several days (maybe even by the end of March), make my final edits and adjustments, and ship the proof copy back to St Tikhon’s even as I upload the revised files to Dropbox from where they will be used to replace the current files in the layout.

After I send the proof copy back to STM Press, we will still have one last round of professional text proofreading, which I understand will be handled by a highly regarded associate at St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, after which we go to press. While we feel confident of spelling, we want to have fresh, professional eyes on the titles, texts and formatting to check for spacing, punctuation, and all the little things we become blind to after working with it for months on end.

As you know, the pre-order period has officially ended, and I wish to thank again all those who took advantage of the extended deadline to place their orders, and indeed to all of you who have supported The North American Thebaid Photographic Pilgrimage Project over the last seven and a half years. Your contributions through two crowdfunding campaigns and our open pre-order period has sustained this endeavor and brought it to the threshold of fulfillment, and it is by your prayers (and by those who have gone before us) that we are pressing on to the goal.

With heartfelt thanksgiving, and great anticipation ~ zosimas

Last chance to order Deluxe Limited Edition and Signed Fine-Art Prints

Prototype Design for Deluxe Limited Edition with leather cover (not the actual cover). Available only by pre-order until 12 Midnight, March 11, 2024, EDT.

Dear Friends & Supporters, Fellow Pilgrims All ~

As we are still in the final stages of reviewing the proof copy of the Thebaid Book, and as I have received some questions recently about how to pre-order and help support the project, I have decided to extend the Pre-Order Deadline to next Monday, March 11, at 12 Midnight EDT, 11pm CDT.

My thanks to all of you who have recently pre-ordered the Thebaid Book. There has been a renewed interest in the book the last several weeks, and at a pre-Lent gathering this past weekend, I was glad to be able to share about the imminent publication with some I had met during my 2018 travels.

Just to recap where we are:

The editorial team at St Tikhon’s Monastery Press is completing their final review of the physical proof copy of the book. They are especially scrutinizing the text elements for spelling, grammar, punctuation, and formatting.

They will ship it to me when they have finished at their end, so that I may inspect the image reproduction and make any required image edits before sending the final book file to press.

My immense thanks to all of you for following along with this incredible project, for your support of it through pre-orders and prayers, and for your patience through the long period of post-production and pre-press. I look forward to celebrating together with you (virtually and in many cases, in person) when the book is finally completed and we have our copies in our hands.

Standing on the Runway,

zosimas

† Pre-Order Notes:

Pre-orders for The North American Thebaid book at The Thebaid Store will end at 12:00 midnight on March 11, 2024 EDT, 11:00PM Central.

Discounts are available for multiple copies of both the Standard Edition and the Deluxe Limited Edition.

The Deluxe Limited Edition (leather-bound, signed & numbered, with signed & matted fine-art print) is available only by pre-order.

The Standard Edition is available by pre-order, signed, with signed & matted print. Unsigned copies or copies without signed & matted print are not available.

Signed and matted 8×10 fine-art prints are only available by pre-order bundled with the book.

Prints will not be available separately either before we go to press, or afterwards.
There are no plans to offer individual Thebaid prints for sale.

Pre-orders will be shipped before retail channels receive their copies for resale.